それでは英字新聞 読解スタートです！

Couple are pictured asleep on fly-tipped mattress in middle of residential road – while ‘junkie’ takes 40 winks at the till in Asda

・Homeless couple have been snapped sleeping on mattress in middle of the road

・Picture, taken on Sunday, shows the pair trying to keep warm in South Ockendon

・On social media some residents have expressed their frustration with situation

・Others feel sorry for the couple who they say are clearly in ‘a vulnerable place’

・Do you know the couple? Email joseph.curtis@mailonline.co.uk

fly-tipping (noun)

Urban Dictionaryによると” the activity of leaving waste material in a place where it is not allowed“というふうに記載されていますね。その動詞が fly-tipです。

forty winks (noun)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” a short sleep, especially during the day“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

He usually has forty winks going home on the train.

till (noun)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” a piece of equipment used in shops for adding up the amount of money that someone has to pay and for holding the money“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

Next time you have the till open, could you give me some change?

I think these items have been rung up wrongly on the till.

We suspected him of dipping into the till (= stealing money from the store).

vulnerable (adjective)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” able to be easily physically, emotionally, or mentally hurt, influenced, or attacked:“というふうに記載されていますね。

例文：

The government must help the most vulnerable groups in our society.

The long Russian frontier was highly vulnerable toa German attack.

While feeding, the birds are vulnerable to predators.

I felt very vulnerable, standing there without any clothes on.

Tourists are more vulnerable to attack, because they do not know which areas of the city to avoid.

Older people are especially vulnerable to cold temperatures even inside their homes.

He casts himself as a naive, vulnerable young poet.

A photograph of a homeless couple sleeping on a dirty mattress in the middle of a residential road has sparked a mixed reaction from residents.

The picture, taken over the weekend, shows two people asleep on the floor near some garages in South Ockendon, Essex.

The image was circulated on social media, prompting some to offer their sympathies to the couple while others were angry that the situation was unfolding outside their homes and accused them of being ‘drug users who beg and steal’.

Meanwhile more outrage was caused when a ‘junkie’ was pictured slumped unconscious atan Asda self-service till in Scotland.

The unidentified man collapsed at a shop in Motherwell and police were called when staff could rouse him for 15 minutes.

In Essex, the man who took the image, who wants to remain anonymous, said: ‘On Sunday, my partner went to the Co-op on South Road and came back to say that someone had fly-tipped a mattress.

the Co-opはお店の名前です。

‘I went to my garage there and couldn’t believe what I saw. I was gobsmacked. They are in such a vulnerable place. I went over and woke the man up and said, ‘Mate, you’re sleeping in a road. Get yourself somewhere safe’.

‘He said ‘Yeah, OK’ and went back to sleep. I feel sorry for them, they are in a bad place. He was so withdrawn.’

The witness said they were in their late 20s, and looked as though they were on drugs, a problem which his area is all too familiar with.

‘I’ve lived here 16 years and it’s got worse,’ he said. ‘We are right on the edge of the village and you get a lot of drug deals going on.

gobsmacked (adjective)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” extremely surprised “ と記載されていますね。

例文：

He was completely gobsmacked when he won the award.

withdrawn (adjective)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” very quiet and preferring not to talk to other people “ という風に記載されていますね。

例文：

After his mother’s death he became shy and withdrawn.

During the winter, she became depressed and withdrawn.

Following her son’s death, she became quiet and withdrawn and rarely went out.

as though

Cambridge Dictionaryによると ” as if: “ という風に記載されていますね。

例文：

You look as though you’ve been running a marathon!

Councillors have been spending as if there is no tomorrow.

She acted as though she had never seen me before, when I’d just met her at lunch.

‘It’s a forgotten area. Our local Co-op was held up on Friday night, and I’ve been threatened with a knife before.’

A Co-Op worker said the couple were well-known in the area and went by ‘Amy and G’.

She said: ‘Everyone knows them – they call themselves Amy and G, not sure where you’ll find them now, but you see them filling up whole bags of stuff from here and walking out with them.

The worker added the pair are known to the police and claimed they were frequent shoplifters.

She added: ‘They don’t try to be hidden or like, subtle about it – they don’t care if they get caught.’

A resident opposite where the mattress lay, outside an estate of small garages with blue doors, said: ‘Drugs have always been a big problem in this area and it’s only getting worse.

hold up (phrasal verb)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” to steal from a person, business, or vehicle by threatening them with a gun or other weapon “ という風に記載されていますね。

例文：

An armed raider held up the village store last week.

They held the same bank up twice in one week.

He was held up at gunpoint by a gang of masked youths.

go by (phrasal verb)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” to use a particular name for yourself that is not your real name “ と記載されていますね。

例文：

When I knew her, she used to go by the name of Ricki.

In the business world he goes by the name of J. Walter Fortune.

known (adjective)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると ” used to refer to something or someone that is familiar to or understood by people: “ という風に記載されていますね。

例文：

He is known to the police because of his previous criminal record.

There is no known reason for the accident.

subtle (adjective)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” not obvious, and therefore difficult to notice “ と、” indirect in a way that prevents people from noticing what you are trying to do “ という風に記載されていますね。

例文：

He was being so subtle, I didn’t realize he liked me.

I detected a subtle change in his attitude towards us.

subtle flavors

a subtle shade of pink

The subtle nuances of English pronunciation are hard to master.

The room was painted a subtle shade of pink.

There is a subtle difference between these two plans.

estate (noun)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” an area where there are many houses, usually built at the same time by the same company. Many estates are owned by local government and have cheap houses for poorer families. The American word is development “ という風に記載されていますね。

例文：

He grew up on an estate.

She was brought up in a council estate in Liverpool.

‘I’d move away if I could, it’s not safe at night- these sorts of people have nothing to lose so you never know what they’ll do.’

Another resident said: ‘I’m split on it. I don’t want it outside my house, no one does.

‘They are still human beings and deserve to be somewhere dry and warm. If I thought I could trust them I would unlock my shed and they could stay in there.

‘It’s not nice to see people on the street but you don’t want it outside your front door.

‘All it takes is for someone who’s had too much to drink down the working man’s club to get in their car and make a wrong move and they could have been seriously hurt.’

The picture has also split opinion on social media with some claiming the couple could be ‘drug users’ and others arguing more should be done to help them.

Writing on Facebook, one user said: ‘It’s a couple of junkies who beg An (sic) steal! People have gave them chance after chance.’

But another responded: ‘Nobody in the UK should be homeless. Surely we have a moral responsibility for each other or what is the point of life?

the point of life は人生の意義です。

‘Should we not take care of each other?’

Meanwhile on Twitter, one user wrote: ‘When a mattress starts being placed in the middle of a Road (sic), we know we are heading for a huge homeless Crisis (sic), #endhomelessness Now!!!!’

The image of the man in Asda was posted on Twitter by Darn Ferguson, who said: ‘Just seen a junkie asleep with a cookie in hand in #Motherwell Asda self service tills. #junkiesmakemotherwell.’

Asdaはイギリスの小売業者です。

Speaking today, he added: ‘The guy was like that for a good 15 minutes at least, possibly more because I had to leave.

‘I don’t think he was refusing to budge just refusing to wake up. They guy was clearly on some sort of drugs.

‘The Asda staff were trying to wake him up without obviously touching him or anything and failed so I think they phoned the police.

‘It was attracting quite a crowd at this point. I’m unaware if the man woke up before or after the police arrived.’

be split on (phrase)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると” to be unable to agree about something “ と記載されていますね。

例文：

The party is split on the issue of closer European unity.

known (adjective)

Cambridge Dictionaryによると ” used to refer to something or someone that is familiar to or understood by people: “ という風に記載されていますね。

例文：

He is known to the police because of his previous criminal record.

There is no known reason for the accident.

To budge (verb)

Macmillan Dictionaryによると ” to move, or to move something, especially something that is very heavy or is stuck “ という風に記載されていますね。

例文：

I pulled again, but the wheel wouldn’t budge.

She refused to budge from his office until she got an answer.

I’ve tried moving the desk but it won’t budge/I can’t budge it.

We tried to open a window but couldn’t budge any of them.

Many on social media have mocked or criticised the man while others have shown sympathy.

Jason Denham wrote: ‘Guy going up to him, like, ‘Are you OK sir?’ while wanting to throw a pail of ice cold water over him.’

go up to は…の所へ行く, …に近寄るです。

Paulo Dee said: ‘That’s not even funny tbh, it’s just mutant behaviour and a total pain in the arse for the people left to deal with him.

tbh は to be honest です。

arse は a stupid person です。pain in the assとかけています。

‘Folk can laugh but they want to try being the ones having a needle waved in their face or dodging a headbutt from some auld drunk!’

And Bruce X @BethpageBru, wrote: ‘Given the subject matter of this out-of-the-ordinary image, it’s important to point out that there’s a vulnerable, hurting and ill person at the centre of it.

‘None of us are perfect and we shouldn’t surrender our humanity at someone else’s expense.’